Skip to content
edumaterial.net
Menu
Change language

Back to Spanish

Soft d: a change of articulation

CEFR A2

dato

[ˈd̪ato]

piece of information

cada

[ˈkað̞a]

each; every

What tells the two sounds apart

  • [d̪]After a pause, the tongue touches the upper teeth and briefly stops the air.
  • [ð̞]Between vowels, bring the tongue close to the upper teeth without a full closure. Keep voicing and let the air pass gently.

Why it is hard

English learners may keep a strong stop in every position. Compare “dato” after a pause with the d between vowels in “cada”. This is one phoneme /d/ with different pronunciations, not two meanings of d. The softer sound is close to the voiced th in “this”, but lighter. Keep d in this careful model. In informal speech in Spain and some American regions, d may disappear in -ado; that omission is not the practice target.

Cada sábado veo a mi amigo.

To practise

  1. dedo[ˈd̪eð̞o]finger
  2. lado[ˈlað̞o]side
  3. nada[ˈnað̞a]nothing
  4. sábado[ˈsaβ̞að̞o]Saturday